Women at this month's session felt Aviva Cantor's essay
comparing society's treatment of animals to that of women was
logical and convincing. The Club is her metaphor for
undisguised brutality such as hunting or vivisection, and in
the case of women, rape or battering. The Yoke exemplifies
the more circumscribed condition found in factory farms or
breeding (the animal as slave), and corresponds to women's
domestic labor or control over reproduction. She uses the
Leash to represent pets and dependent females, equating pet
shows with beauty contests.
Although we all agreed with
Cantor's linkage of the oppression of animals and women, most
of us rejected her implied biological determinism. A few
women did not like the way she stereotypes men as violent and
primarily responsible for cruelty to animals. By contrast,
Cantor depicts women as helpless victims and glosses over the
fact that women willingly eat animals, wear their fur, and
use household and beauty products tested on tortured animals.
Another woman countered that women may participate in
violence against animals, but the industries that exploit
animalsand the culture that deems them
exploitableare male dominated. In helping us unravel
the paradox of woman as both ally and oppressor of animals,
we turned to Cantor's opening statement.
Cantor writes: "Nowhere is patriarchy's iron fist as
naked as in the oppression of animals, which serves as the
model and training ground for all other forms of
oppression." Her essay obliged us to re-examine our
understanding of patriarchya system which surfaced in
many parts of the world 5,000 to 10,000 years ago when men
began to exert control over women. One woman reformulated
Cantor's premise by saying that the oppression of women
"serves as the model and training ground for all other
forms of oppression." Historically women were the first
class of people to be dominated, although some feminists
believe women participated (however unwittingly) in the
creation of patriarchy.
Feminist usage of the word
patriarchy, though, goes beyond its literal meaning,
"rule by the fathers." It has come to signify all
forms of domination, power-over, and hierarchy. Thus, the
term patriarchy is useful shorthand for naming the politics
of oppression. Yet, for thousands of years before men began
to rule, humansmale and femalehunted, ate,
sacrificed, bred, and domesticated animals. Perhaps, one
woman inquired, dominator behavior originated not with
patriarchy, but with speciesism (i.e., human animals
using/abusing nonhuman animals). If animals, rather than
women, were the first oppressed class, another woman
questioned the historic and linguistic accuracy in using
patriarchy as the code word for power-over politics. [This
discussion is not suggesting that the
oppression of women or animals takes priority over other
liberation struggles.]
Most women said that it really doesn't matter whether the
oppression of women or the oppression of animals induced
dominator behavior. The term patriarchy is still valuable
because, unlike speciesism or other isms, an analysis of
patriarchy offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for
understanding all hierarchical relationships. Most
ecofeminists contend that prior to patriarchy our species was
in balance with nature. It was patriarchal thinking that led
humans to conceptualize ourselves as separate from and
superior to nature, thereby devaluing nature. Whatever forms
of domination may have previously existed, they became warped
and escalated by the patriarchal world view.
One woman
wondered whether hunters in ancient times were in as natural
equilibrium with their prey as is the lion in pursuit of the
gazelle. Most of us felt the "human as predator"
theory is overplayed. Perhaps back then, a woman explained,
species survival entailed some animal consumption. Overall,
however, the human body is not designed to digest flesh (nor
junk food for that matter). Given today's wealth of
affordable, nutritious food choices, women agreed that it is
no longer necessary or humane for most people to maintain a
carnivorous diet.
One woman revealed that she often feels uncomfortable and
isolated advocating animal rights issues because activists in
other movements tend to dismiss animals, rarely according
them the same stature and respect as human animals. By and
large, though, the ideology and actions of the animal
liberation movement reflect its white, middle class
constituency. Two women who attended the National March on
Washington for Animals in 1990 regretfully described a
placard carried by a young white woman which read,
"Experiment On Convicts, Not Animals." Obviously an
entire movement can't be indicted on the misguided message of
one individual. Yet, disturbingly, the women saw no other
demonstrators confronting the woman for carrying such a
classist, racist sign. It was clear to most of us that the
mainstream animal rights movement needs to be more actively
involved in multicultural, multiracial coalition work.
Several women asserted that it would likewise behoove
progressives of all persuasions to learn the word
"anthropocentrism." One woman found it puzzling and
disappointing that politically sensitive allies continue to
treat living, sentient beings as the "other."
Another woman complained that she finds it is as hard to
discuss animal rights among feminists as it is to talk about
feminism in mainstream culture. She applauded Carol Adams'
bold suggestion that all feminist conferences serve only
vegetarian food. In addition to sparing the lives of
thousands of animals, a vegetarian-only policy would compel
many feminists to examine the reality of factory farming: it
endangers the environment, perpetuates violence, and is toxic
to our health.
One woman commented that a consciousness
toward animals is what distinguishes ecofeminism from
feminism. Another woman said she gravitated to ecofeminism
because in addition to confronting human-to-human domination
(racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, etc.), ecofeminism
is equally committed to ending human supremacism over
other animals and nature. In short, ecofeminism is an
inclusive philosophy grounded on the interconnectedness of
all life. Most of us felt that an incorporation of
ecofeminist principles into the Western value system would be
a positive development indeed.
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